The Responsibility Seat (UFO: The Series episode)
has to plug in the instalment.]] "The Responsibility Seat" is an instalment of UFO: The Series in which Edward Straker finds himself having to deal with a reporter named Jo Fraser (Jane Merrow), whose efforts to get a story about him--and the fact that she does not work for the newspaper she claimed to represent--make her a potential security leak that he has to plug. Straker decides to plug the leak in what, for him, is a most unusual manner: He actually goes out on a date with Fraser. Straker leaves Colonel Alec Freeman in temporary command of S.H.A.D.O. in his absence. Plot In his role as a film studio executive, Edward Straker is interviewed by reporter Josephine 'Jo' Fraser of the Global Press Agency. She records the interview using a microphone in the front of her purse, but when she leaves the purse in Straker's office while he walks her to her car, the microphone records Lieutenant Keith Ford's voice on the intercom, referring to Straker as "Commander Straker," information that is NOT supposed to be known to the general public! While Ed tours the studio lot, Fraser returns to the office to collect her bag, and when Straker discovers what has happened, he realises that the S.H.A.D.O. may have a security leak, particularly as the GPA has never heard of her. Taking the responsibility for his own mistake, he leaves Alec Freeman in charge as he tracks Jo down to recover the tape. Straker traces Fraser to her motel and demands the tape from her handbag, but she knocks him down with a heavy ashtray and flees in her car. Straker pursues her in his car and forces her off the road, badly damaging her car. They call a truce, and Straker takes Fraser for a drink to get to know her better, later inviting her to dinner at his home. However, he has Miss Ealand run a voice-print and background check on Fraser; this reveals that she has a criminal record and has been vindicated five times for extortion. When he finds Fraser stripped to her underwear in his bedroom, Straker accuses her of attempting to get him into a compromised position which she may be able to use to her advantage later. She tries to deny this, but the damage has been done, and Straker throws her out of his house. Meanwhile, MoonBase has tracked a mobile rig, a commercial mining vehicle used by the Sovatek Company moving across the lunar surface. The rig is following an erratic course that will eventually lead it into a collision with MoonBase. When Sovatek Commander Dudzinski admits that he has been unable to establish radio contact with the rig's crew, Paul Foster takes a MoonMobile to intercept the rig and boards it to find the two men suffering from anoxia, a state of drunkenness brought on by oxygen starvation. Foster is attacked by the rig crewman, but finally manages to throw the master switch, bringing the rig to a halt just inches from the MoonBase Control Sphere. Freeman is happy to hand the responsibility seat back to Straker when the latter returns to S.H.A.D.O. HQ the following morning. It is speculated that Fraser will not stay out of trouble long; "her kind never do." Regular Cast * Commander Ed Straker - Ed Bishop * Colonel Alec E. Freeman - George Sewell * Colonel Paul J. Foster - Michael Billington * Lieutenant Gay Ellis - Gabrielle Drake * Lieutenant Nina Barry - Dolores Mantez *Lieutenant Joan Harrington - Antonia Ellis * Lieutenant Keith Ford - Keith Alexander *Captain Lew Waterman - Gary Myers *Miss Ealand - Norma Ronald *Lieutenant John Masters - Jon Kelley *Lieutenant Gordon Maxwell - Jeremy Wilkin *Lieutenant Ayshea Johnson - Ayshea Brough *Lieutenant Sylvia Howell - Georgina Moon *Operative Joanna - Shakira Baksh *Lieutenant Gary North - Mark Hawkins *SHADO Control Operative - Maxwell Craig *Voice of S.I.D. - Mel Oxley *Voice of Voice-Print Identification - Jeremy Wilkin Guest Cast *Josephine 'Jo' Fraser - Jane Merrow *Commander Dudzinski - Patrick Jordan *Russian Astronauts - Janos Kurucz and Paul Tamarin *Film Director - Ralph Ball *Stuntman Roy - Royston Rowe *Voice of Roy - Keith Alexander *SHADO Control Operative - Penny Spencer *1st Actor with Machine Gun - Maxwell Craig *Voice of Interceptor Pilot - Keith Alexander SHADO Equipment Used *MoonBase Interceptors *SkyDiver 1 *Sky One *S.I.D. *Moonmobile 4 *Straker's car Non-SHADO Equipment Used * UFOs *Sovatek Mobile Rig Category:UFO: The Series instalments